When the New Orleans Saints' first-team offense broke the
huddle for the team portion of Tuesday's minicamp practice, fourth-year
offensive tackle Charles Brown lined up at left tackle.

That little tidbit could constitute as big news for the
often-injured Brown, who is in the midst of a three-man competition with free-agent signee Jason Smith and rookie third-round pick Terron Armstead for the
starting position.

Brown, a former second-round pick, missed a portion of the
first week of the Saints' organized team activities after injuring his back
while pulling a sled during a workout session.

Brown is healthy now. But that setback followed a familiar
pattern of him showing flashes of his abilities, only to have those glimpses be
followed by stints on the injury report.

In fact, during the NFL owners meeting in March, Saints
Coach Sean Payton said Brown needed to make sure he was "available" before for
the Saints could count on him to replace Jermon Bushrod, who signed with the
Chicago Bears this offseason, at left tackle.

"He has a lot of experience," Ingalls said of Brown. "He has
some good video out there and has proven he can be efficient in this league and
play that position. But like Sean said, he needs to be available. He needs to
be able to train and needs to be able to practice and do that year round.

"We can't have setbacks, because he needs to continue to
develop. But we like him. But he needs to be available. That's a constant
message, a constant message."

Brown knows this. He has heard it all before.

Last season, he appeared to be turning the corner while filling in nicely for an
injured Zach Strief during a three-game stretch in the middle of the season. Then
Brown sustained another season-ending injury during his third start in Oakland,
marking the second time in three seasons Brown ended the season on injured
reserve.

"They don't need to keep telling me that," Brown said. "But
I know that every day I'm not out there I'm not helping, so I need to get out
there."

Brown showed no effects from the back injury during drills.
Although the players weren't in pads and there was no hitting, Brown appeared
to move well.

If he remains healthy, he clearly has an advantage over
Smith and Armstead, who left Tuesday's practice with an unspecified injury,
because the two newcomers aren't nearly as familiar with the intricacies of the
Saints' offense.

"I got to put some stuff on film so now I can correct it and
see where I need to get better," Brown said of Tuesday's practice. "This speeds
up the process and I can get rolling to get where I need to be."

Payton agreed.

"It's important with the snaps that he's able to get as many
snaps as he can, especially mentally just being out there with the protections
and the different looks we are getting from our defense," Payton said.

Although he is healthy, Brown won't continue to get all the
reps with the first-team offense.

The plan is to continue to rotate the players with the
starting units throughout the offseason workouts.

Ingalls said the rotation is good for the competition.

"We really feel good about who the guys are," Ingalls said.
"In their own way, they all have some traits we like. Charles Brown has been
here the longest. We just need for him to practice every day so we can evaluate
and decide if he is the next guy to play that position.

"Terron Armstead has done a good job as a rookie ... so has
Jason Smith, who has come in and is learning our system. The nice thing is that
they are all talented enough and could be the starter. So we have been rotated
them and we are going to continue to rotate them. I don't think the real
evaluation starts until you get pads on."

Again, Brown understands this. That's why Tuesday
was so important. It marked a practice in which he was healthy enough to
participate and show the coaches he has the skills to win the job.